The present invention relates to the use of protein hydrolysate derived from keratin-containing material in the wet-end of a papermaking process, a process for preparing a paper product, and paper pulp and paper products comprising such a protein hydrolysate additive.
In the papermaking industry a wide variety of additives is applied to improve properties of the finished paper product. Such properties include, for instance, printability, wet/dry strength, softness and wetting properties. Generally, the amounts of additives to be used need to be carefully controlled because most of these additives are expensive chemicals.